I overheard a Christian praying over his meal this morning…out loud…in a public setting.
He was holding his plate up in the air, somewhat as on offering toward God I suppose, with his face raised to the heavens. How pious he looked! And people were watching.
But it was his prayer that got me the most. He said, “Almighty Father in Heaven, thank you for this daily bread, the fruit of your loins. Bless it to my body. Amen.”
…the fruit of your loins????…I have to believe he had no idea what he was saying, and I hope nobody else did either.
If you don’t know what “loins” are, the Oxford English Dictionary coyly defines it as “The part of the body that should be covered by clothing.”
Here are the rules for praying in public:
1. Know what you’re saying.
2. Don’t make a show of it.
You don’t even have to bow your head, close your eyes, and fold your hands. That is not the magical posture which makes prayer rise faster to the ears of God. And as long as we’re talking about God’s ears (which, along with loins, He doesn’t have), please note that God is not deaf. You do not have to shout or scream your prayers.
What an odd post this turned out to be…
very weird (snicker) ;))
I suppose technically all of creation, including food, is the fruit of God’s loins…I mean, if he HAS loins. And if you could, in an analogous way, imagine God “procreating” (versus creating without the, you know…pro part).
I’m not even sure what that means, but I just grossed myself out a little.
I think Jesus had a bit to say about praying in public. Matt. 6:5-6 should suffice.
As a very young child, I somehow got the idea that the head bowed and hands folded posture created a kind of antenna that somehow facilitated God’s reception. Now with my own son, I try to be very deliberate about talking to God in a normal fashion, just like I would talk to anyone else.
Yes, I am the same. It is strange how the prayer voice and prayer posture developed.